first birthday party.

On Saturday, December 14th at 3:00 in the afternoon we, along with our dearest friends and family, celebrated our Brooks' first birthday. Our ONE YEAR OLD. I was quite emotional on his actual birthday to say the least. Although it has only been one year, there are so many sweet memories to recount and relive. And they all washed over me at once. I also think that I was feeling a bit guilty about leaving Brooks with his Shug all day, from 8:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. But, in our hearts, Saturday was our day to honor little B.

We were hanging drapes, unpacking boxes, making grocery runs, and decorating for the party just mere minutes before guests arrived. I honestly could not have done it without the help of my parents and brother Andrew, John's parents, Lea...and, of course, John. These people make my world go round.

Luckily, Brooks took a long afternoon nap, so come 3:00 he was ready to party! And that he did.

He had so much fun playing with his little friends, being loved on by grandparents, and indulging in yummy cake for the first time (Warning: I got a tad bit picture happy)!

We are so incredibly thankful for the friends and family that were able to make it, those who weren't, but sent Brooks lots of love on his big day, and for all of the thoughtful gifts for our little one. It is such a blessing having those you love, love your child almost as much as you do. What an amazing circle we have surrounding our family.

We surely enjoyed every second of Brooks' birthday party and I believe he did too. What tot wouldn't love being surrounded by big colorful balloons and tons of toys for a day?!

Happy 1st Birthday, my little love. You sure are adored.

tide over.

I feel like I have so much catching up to do on this little blog of mine. For one, we have partially moved into our new house. The week leading up to Brooks' first birthday was a crazy one. We had painters, carpenters, electricians, and floor refinishers working around each other racing to get the job done in time for his party on Saturday. We reached a point where the progress had to stop in order to move in furniture on Friday. With that being said, there are still several walls, doors, and trim that need painting (even though drapes are hung...yikes), an entire kitchen that needs to be installed, floors that need scraping and cleaning, and shelving and closets that need to be installed. Nap time is going to be quite interesting over the next few weeks. Uhhhh.

After singing "Happy Birthday" to Brooks a billion times, giving him a gillion kisses and hugs, and letting him indulge in a muffin top with a candle in it (that he blew out with his pinchers), I dropped him off with his Shug at 8:30 a.m. on Friday morning. There were a lot of tears shed...by me. I then went back to the townhouse to finish packing and get ready for the movers, who were supposed to arrive no later than 1:00 and didn't show until 3:30. SOOOOO, the moving truck did not arrive to the Lancaster cottage until 6:00 p.m. Did I mention we were hosting a party the next day?

Needless to say, we got the house looking presentable with the help of our amazing families and Brooks' first birthday party was a success. I cannot wait to show pictures of the house and share some from the party. It was such a special day celebrating our sweet baby boy!

But, for now, we must finish packing the townhouse (we still have an entire kitchen to box up among other odds and ends) and get it cleaned by Thursday, get a Christmas tree (yeah, that's not happening), take Brooks to see Santa, go to B's 12 month well check-up, finish our Christmas shopping, and then unpack some more. Hopefully I will be back before the new year. Wink.

Here are some recent iPhone pics of the star of the show to tide this blog over...

...and a video, of our WALKING one year old!!!

merry.

The Bryant family Christmas cards have been signed, sealed, and delivered. So, as promised, here are some outtakes from our Christmas card shoot from back in November (?). Thanks again to my sweet sis-in-law for taking the time to snap some pictures for us—our first "official" family pictures, that is! 

And, the winner is...

Merriest of Merry Christmas! Love, the Bryants